A new report from the Centers for Disease Control is shedding some surprising light on drug overdoses and related fatalities, particularly when it comes to women.

According to the CDC, prescription drug overdose deaths for women increased by 400 percent between 1999 and 2010. The rate for men increased by a comparatively lower 250 percent. For females, the number of prescription overdose deaths was four times that of cocaine and heroin combined. And about 12 percent were the result of suicides.

Most often, the drugs in question are painkillers, which women are more apt to use, in higher dosages and for longer periods than men.

Discussing the study’s findings with CBS News, CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden said, “We need to better understand how dangerous these drugs are. They shouldn’t be used lightly, [only] where they are essential, necessary, something like severe cancer pain, they are important tools. But all too often, the risks are way higher than the benefits because it may be a lifelong addiction.”

In fact, the problem has become so great that since 2007, drug overdoses have accounted for more female deaths than motor vehicle accidents.

The highest risk of fatality is for women between 45 and 54. And according to CBS News’ report on the findings, “the rate of ER visits was about one woman every three minutes in 2010.”

CDC officials connected the increase in painkiller overdoses to the trend of those drugs being prescribed at a higher rate than is probably necessary.

According to Frieden, “Over the past 10 years we’ve had a skyrocketing of prescriptions and now a skyrocketing of overdoses and deaths that have gone along with it.”

Combined with the greater probability of women using these drugs, this increased rate of prescribing painkillers has contributed to a potentially deadly situation.

The report also noted that pregnant women could be putting the fetus at risk by using prescription drugs. Some can increase the chance of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), which occurs as the result of exposure to drugs (like marijuana, narcotics, and others) and is similar to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS).

The CDC is tracking data to monitor the situation and also points to features of the Affordable Care Act as potentially helping to address the epidemic of prescription drug abuse.

Pointing to broad responsibility for “reversing” the crisis, Frieden said, “Patients need to understand that opiates are not always the answer. They are dangerous drugs. Doctors need to be more careful about prescribing and state governments, Medicaid programs, insurance companies can set up systems to safe guard patients and identify if there are doctors or patients who have problematic patterns and then intervene there.”